Feds seek prison for pot

By NICHOLAS K. GERANIOS and GENE JOHNSON
THE Associated Press

Published: May 11, 2014;Last modified: May 11, 2014 11:03PM

SPOKANE, Wash. — The green-cross storefronts of medical marijuana dispensaries are common in much of Washington, and the state is plowing ahead with licensing people to grow and sell recreational pot to adults.

But a federal trial scheduled to begin in the coming weeks for five people in Spokane suggests not all is OK with weed in the state.

Larry Harvey, a 70-year-old medical marijuana patient with no criminal history, three of his relatives and a family friend each face mandatory minimum sentences of at least 10 years in prison after they were caught growing about 70 pot plants on their rural, mountainous property.

The Harveys did have guns at their home, which is part of the reason for the lengthy possible prison time. They say the weapons were for hunting and protection, but prosecutors say two of the guns were loaded and in the same room as a blue plastic tub of pot.

“This case is another glaring example of what’s wrong with the federal policy on cannabis,” said Kari Boiter, Washington state coordinator for the medical marijuana group Americans for Safe Access.

But the case illustrates discrepancies in how law enforcement officials are handling marijuana cases as Washington — with the Justice Department’s blessing — moves ahead with its grand experiment in pot legalization. Medical marijuana gardens the size of the Harveys’ rarely draw attention from authorities in the Seattle area.

Under federal law, marijuana remains illegal, and what the licensed growers are doing differs little from what Harvey and his family did.

In Colorado, the other state to legalize recreational marijuana, many pot shops even have armed security guards. Under federal law, that looks a lot like possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. There have been no recent federal charges involving commercial dispensaries in western Washington or in Colorado absent indications of further criminality.